Poll of the Day > 5th Grade Teacher asks Students to JUSTIFY the actions of the KKK!!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oak Pointe Elementary School has SUSPENDED a TEACHER after they asked 5th graders to JUSTIFY the actions of the Ku Klux Klan!!

Screenshots of the shocking question were shown that has outraged a child's uncle.

Tremain Cooper said his nephew got an assignment from his teacher named "Kerri Roberts" with an offensive question that said You are there...you are a member of the KKK. Why do you think your treamtent of African Americans is justified?

Another question said "You are there..you are a freedman. Are you satisfied with your new life? Why or Why not?"

He posted it in disgust and said "How can she ask a 5th grader to justify the actions of the KKK?

Katrina Goggins, director of communications said the teacher is on admin leave during the investigation

A statement was released that said "School District 5 is taking this matter very seriously. We took immediate action to investigate once the concerns over the assignment were brought to our attention, and the teacher has been placed on administrative leave as part of our stanard personnel investigation procedures"

Do you think that question is appropriate for 5th graders??.

The Question -

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/19/10/4478CDB400000578-4898474-image-m-3_1505814489967.jpg

Tremain - Outraged

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/19/10/4478CDB400000578-4898474-Tremain_Cooper_who_said_his_nephew_was_given_this_assignment_by_-m-6_1505814697943.jpg

School -

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/19/10/4478CC0000000578-4898474-image-a-7_1505814829536.jpg
---

Not 5th grade, but it could be a good question for a college-level ethics class
---

What the fudge lol how do these people become teachers?
---

Well, it looks like it's just trying to get kids to think from their warped perspective and understand why they could be so twisted as to hold the beliefs they have, i.e., not actually implying that it's in any way justified.

I'll grant that it could have and should have been worded better.

"offensive question"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tJGk4ofc18
---

I never watched justified but I heard it was a pretty good show
---

"THIS IS MY LITTLE 10 YEAR OLD NEPHEW'S HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT today. HE'S HOME CRYING RIGHT NOW."

It's probably because you're losing your shit and frightening him dude.

The homework question is rhetorical. It's meant to make the kids think about the situation and open up discussion on why it's not okay. Just like his question "How can she ask a 5th grader to justify actions of the KKK?" The questions are not meant to be answered literally, but to imply that something is wrong.

It is obviously posited as a hypothetical to get the children to try and think from other people's point of view so that they can learn from them and their mistakes.
---

I see nothing wrong with having students empathise and play devil's advocate to better understand why people do what they do and not default to knee-jerk demonising.

If this happened in schools earlier, maybe we wouldn't have BLM at all.
---

thecolorgreen posted...

Not 5th grade, but it could be a good question for a college-level ethics class

I could see high school, but yeah, that kind of devil's advocacy is a bit of a stretch for 5th graders.
---

seems like a good idea until an edgy 10 year old's assignment resembles a /pol/ post and somebody has to answer for it
---

I'm a teacher. A big part of Social Studies curriculum around the world right now is understanding various perspectives. This is a prime example of how not to do that.

What would you even say to that question? Given that you're told you're a member of the KKK, you have to answer yes.

"Yes, it's justified. A black guy glanced at my sister the other day for like 2 seconds. Nobody looks at my sister but me and my dad."
---

faramir77 posted...

"Yes, it's justified. A black guy glanced at my sister the other day for like 2 seconds. Nobody looks at my sister but me and my dad."

lol sounds like a good opening for a incest porno

5th graders? No. Maybe high school students, as some sort of critical thinking exercise that clearly outlines why the KKK sucks, in better terms, of course.

This isn't a 5th graders question, as others have said it's more of a High-school or College question. Although I do say that would be interesting and fun to write.
---

lol
---

That is pretty fucked up.

thecolorgreen posted...

Not 5th grade, but it could be a good question for a college-level ethics class

Was anything about the KKK ethical? Because I'm drawing a huge blank here. They were violent cowards who found strength in numbers and terrorized and/or murdered folks at night.

yutterh posted...

What the fudge lol how do these people become teachers?

Remember: Half of all teachers come from the bottom third of their graduating class. And, when you have the chaff instead of the grain teaching, you wind up continually lowering the bar for teachers.

Currant_Kaiser posted...

Well, it looks like it's just trying to get kids to think from their warped perspective and understand why they could be so twisted as to hold the beliefs they have, i.e., not actually implying that it's in any way justified.

I'll grant that it could have and should have been worded better.

It's not a thought exercise that fifth graders could meaningfully participate in.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I see nothing wrong with having students empathise and play devil's advocate to better understand why people do what they do and not default to knee-jerk demonising.

If this happened in schools earlier, maybe we wouldn't have BLM at all.

Not sure how any of that really correlates, but a fifth-grader won't have the context to really interpret the other person's point of view beyond "RACISM!" and, if anything, the exercise boils things down to oversimplification. While racism and xenophobia were the driving factors in the KKK, history and sociological factors have *some* importance because the organization was borne from the abrupt upheaval of sociological norms where a more protracted movement towards freedom then equality might not have triggered such a violent, visceral reaction... or, you know, at least a smaller one. No matter what, you're going to have a certain number of people who just hate based on skin color which has and will always be true of any society. However, things like forced integration will generally achieve a worse short-term (and potentially long-term) result vs natural integration over time.

In general, had abolition come at a slightly later period, we might have avoided the civil war and had much gentler race relations because pretty much everywhere else in the world was gradually banning slavery (WITHOUT going to war with itself) and it was only a matter of time before the South did as well (especially once technology helped reduce the dependency on manual labor). Keep in mind that the KKK is literally rooted in the Civil War and, without it, would never have existed.
---

Zeus posted...

That is pretty fucked up.

thecolorgreen posted...

Not 5th grade, but it could be a good question for a college-level ethics class

Was anything about the KKK ethical? Because I'm drawing a huge blank here. They were violent cowards who found strength in numbers and terrorized and/or murdered folks at night.

yutterh posted...

What the fudge lol how do these people become teachers?

Remember: Half of all teachers come from the bottom third of their graduating class. And, when you have the chaff instead of the grain teaching, you wind up continually lowering the bar for teachers.

Currant_Kaiser posted...

Well, it looks like it's just trying to get kids to think from their warped perspective and understand why they could be so twisted as to hold the beliefs they have, i.e., not actually implying that it's in any way justified.

I'll grant that it could have and should have been worded better.

It's not a thought exercise that fifth graders could meaningfully participate in.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I see nothing wrong with having students empathise and play devil's advocate to better understand why people do what they do and not default to knee-jerk demonising.

If this happened in schools earlier, maybe we wouldn't have BLM at all.

Not sure how any of that really correlates, but a fifth-grader won't have the context to really interpret the other person's point of view beyond "RACISM!" and, if anything, the exercise boils things down to oversimplification. While racism and xenophobia were the driving factors in the KKK, history and sociological factors have *some* importance because the organization was borne from the abrupt upheaval of sociological norms where a more protracted movement towards freedom then equality might not have triggered such a violent, visceral reaction... or, you know, at least a smaller one. No matter what, you're going to have a certain number of people who just hate based on skin color which has and will always be true of any society. However, things like forced integration will generally achieve a worse short-term (and potentially long-term) result vs natural integration over time.

In general, had abolition come at a slightly later period, we might have avoided the civil war and had much gentler race relations because pretty much everywhere else in the world was gradually banning slavery (WITHOUT going to war with itself) and it was only a matter of time before the South did as well (especially once technology helped reduce the dependency on manual labor). Keep in mind that the KKK is literally rooted in the Civil War and, without it, would never have existed.

Zeus I hate being against you, but i love it when you come in with the back up.
---

Zeus posted...

Remember: Half of all teachers come from the bottom third of their graduating class. And, when you have the chaff instead of the grain teaching, you wind up continually lowering the bar for teachers.

Citation needed.

At my university in order to get into the education program you needed to already hold a Bachelor's degree with a major in a teachable subject. If your GPA from that degree wasn't at least 3.5 you wouldn't even be considered.
---

faramir77 posted...

Zeus posted...

Remember: Half of all teachers come from the bottom third of their graduating class. And, when you have the chaff instead of the grain teaching, you wind up continually lowering the bar for teachers.

Citation needed.

At my university in order to get into the education program you needed to already hold a Bachelor's degree with a major in a teachable subject. If your GPA from that degree wasn't at least 3.5 you wouldn't even be considered.

Aren't you Canadian, though? And is using google really that hard? Because, as a teacher, you should be able to look some of this stuff up for yourself =p

http://www.mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Closing_the_talent_gap.pdf

The U.S. attracts most of its teachers from the bottom
two-thirds of college classes, with nearly half coming
from the bottom third, especially for schools in poor
neighborhoods. Department of Education data
shows that only 23% of new teachers overall—and
about 14% of those in high-poverty schools—come
from the top third of graduates.
10
This reality, so
different from what we find in the world’s highest-
performing school systems, is not the result of a
conscious strategic choice. On the contrary, it is the
by-product of the labor market trends of the past 40
years, the economics and culture of higher education
and school districts, and budget dynamics

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/15/08teachers.h30.html

Teaching as a career also lacks academic prestige in the United States, the authors maintain. “More than half of teachers are trained in schools with low admission standards; many accept virtually any high school graduate who applies,” they write
---

just those people being themselves...........not much can really be said at this point.

SOME white people have NO LIMIT to how ignorant they can be.and this is proof that racism is taught,which is obvious,but i've had plenty of one sided arguments with incredibly slow people.

Zeus posted...

Not sure how any of that really correlates, but a fifth-grader won't have the context to really interpret the other person's point of view beyond "RACISM!" and, if anything, the exercise boils things down to oversimplification.

I don't know about your education, but when I was told to write a report on a subject, I'd either have been given sufficient information to write a well-reasoned arguement, or be expected to research the subject so I am able to do so.

Students are being encouraged to look at the KKK from the perspective you rambled on about for wall o' text pages. This being a group potentially more demonised than Nazis in 'murica it's pretty significant to develop the skills to reason against a sea of over-emotional wailing before batshit crazy SJWs sink their claws in them and drain away their rational thinking in favour of blind shit-flinging.
---

PigRoach posted...

SOME white people have NO LIMIT to how ignorant they can be.and this is proof that racism is taught,which is obvious,but i've had plenty of one sided arguments with incredibly slow people.

Racism is hardly exclusive to whites, though. And, broadly speaking, white nations tend to be more inclusive than non-white nations.

Likewise, the idea that racism is "taught" isn't necessarily "obvious" because, as far as education and entertainment goes, the opposite is actually being taught these days. Granted, back when the KKK was formed, it certainly was taught and science was used to support the idea, including many now-debunked concepts like phrenology (notably included in Django Unchained).

And, as much I hate to derail this topic in a controversial direction, *technically* racist tendencies aren't always based on ignorance. I'm not referring to anecdotal experiences -- where some people may hold positive or negative perceptions based on time spent with a group (as opposed to just plain ignorance where you have a positive or negative view despite spending no time with a group) -- but instead the field of statistics and demographic data where racial status factors into marketing decisions. And, of course, it's led to discriminatory advertising practices:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/business/media/facebook-will-stop-some-ads-from-targeting-users-by-race.html
---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Zeus posted...

Not sure how any of that really correlates, but a fifth-grader won't have the context to really interpret the other person's point of view beyond "RACISM!" and, if anything, the exercise boils things down to oversimplification.

I don't know about your education, but when I was told to write a report on a subject, I'd either have been given sufficient information to write a well-reasoned arguement, or be expected to research the subject so I am able to do so.

Students are being encouraged to look at the KKK from the perspective you rambled on about for wall o' text pages. This being a group potentially more demonised than Nazis in 'murica it's pretty significant to develop the skills to reason against a sea of over-emotional wailing before batshit crazy SJWs sink their claws in them and drain away their rational thinking in favour of blind shit-flinging.

You're not going to have sufficient information or context in fifth grade. Anything that you're provided won't be nearly enough and would only serve to simplify the lessons learned. And, at those grade levels, the teachers don't really have the flexibility they would have later on and would therefore only expect variations of "because they're evil" as an answer. Nor could you blame them for reaching that conclusion because they're fucking fifth-graders and, even at much later ages, it's difficult to understand outwardly reprehensible organizations to the extent that you can almost rationalize their POV.

The result that we saw when the question was asked is EXACTLY the result you should expect from the average fifth-grader. They don't have the tools to process this information nor a thorough enough historical understanding to lend a real context to it. Their history has thus far been fairly abridged, with major events -- ones which could take years to thoroughly cover -- are learned in passing over the course of a week or so.
---

thecolorgreen posted...

Not 5th grade, but it could be a good question for a college-level ethics class

Probably High school tbh.

It's really not that controversial but hey it's public school better let the dumb kids be dumb and learn from limited perspective

It is a good exercise to help understand both points of views so that you can make informed choices rather then just labeling everyone who disagrees with you and validating their bigotry.

That said, 5th grade might be a bit to early to be doing that. It didn't happen for me until I was a Junior in High School.
---